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No happy ending in drug story

“Man bites dog.” That’s a phrase journalists sometimes used to explain an aphorism in journalism that means something unexpected is more newsworthy than an atypical event — such as a dog biting a man.

The story late last week of a 5-year-old boy saving his parents fits that description. Ordinarily, the parents would be responsible for their son’s safety.

That’s not what happened last Thursday morning in Middletown, Ohio. The 5-year-old walked two blocks in pre-dawn darkness to a relative’s house after his parents overdosed on heroin.

Emergency responders sent to the boy’s home revived the couple. A 3-month-old baby also was in the home.

We understand addiction is an illness that requires treatment, not shaming. But we don’t understand why addicts who take drugs in the presence of other addicts so often overdose simultaneously.

It seems that Thursday morning, the most responsible person in that home in Middletown was the 5-year-old boy who had the courage and presence of mind to seek help.

“Child saves adults” is unusual, indeed.

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